ANOTHER postponement for the North Station cut-over?

[Diverging Route]

This afternoon at North Station (Green Line platform), T personnel were handing out flyers that say:

============

IMPORTANT NOTICE
Start of Shuttle for Green Line Delayed

Please be advised that replacement service between North Station and Lechmere has been postponed. We will provide notification when the shutdown will commence in the next week.

The shuttle buses had been scheduled to begin operating this weekend, but MBTA officials have decided that more time is necessary to test systems throughout the new "SuperStation."

Green Line service will continue servicing Lechmere until the shutdown commences.

We apologize for any inconvenience this announcement may have caused you and thank you for your patience.

============

The MBTA Web site's notices have been updated to remove the mention of this weekend's dates, but all of the information remains.

[BC Eagle]

Walking though North Stating today I thought they must be pretty close to opening the Green Line side, as I noticed they took down the fencing blocking off the tracks. (I think it was still up either yesterday or the day before) However, there did appear to be some sort of heavy work going on right over the tracks on the inbound platform, near where the trolley would enter the station.

[MBTA F40PH-2C 1050]

thats good for me, i am going to boston tomorrow to take more pics :D

[MBTA1]

An inspector and a driver today were talking about a two day training course of the new station when is it and what do they need to be trained about that would take that long.

[Ron Newman]

The last train ran tonight. It was an inbound train from Lechmere, which arrived at Haymarket at around 7:10 pm.

[efin98]

Thank goodness, only one delay for this project so far. Thankfully it will get done ahead of time to make up time lost this week. May the old structure rest in peace, she earned her retirement.

[Ron Newman]

When I left the area around 8 pm, they hadn't yet locked up the exit-only stairway on the south side of Causeway. If they never bother to do so, you might be able to sneak one more look at the inbound elevated North Station platform this weekend, from the other side of the iron-maiden gate.

At public meetings I attended this spring, the T said they would begin demolition from the Science Park end immediately, since that's the part of the elevated which is directly in the way of building the new portal and incline. I hope this work begins promptly. Causeway and Canal won't be demolished until after the DNC.

This wasn't the only delay, nor the most serious one. Originally the line was supposed to close on February 29!

[Robert Paniagua]

Good thing I rode on that aboveground line and filmed it (not out front), but it was nice that I made history. I coudn't even get a chance to ride on the WSEL OL back in mid-87, although I made up for that by riding NYCT's aboveground routes in the following years. Now, come the demolition job, and this EL right-of-way brother now can ride off into "da sunset".

[efin98]

At public meetings I attended this spring, the T said they would begin demolition from the Science Park end immediately, since that's the part of the elevated which is directly in the way of building the new portal and incline. I hope this work begins promptly. Causeway and Canal won't be demolished until after the DNC.

I don't know if the T changed their minds when the DNC being held in Boston was announced or if that was the plan all along but it makes the most sense anyway. why wait and possibly delay in opening the new segment beyond North Station when you can get hte most important part out of the way first? For once, the T had the right idea in construction.

This wasn't the only delay, nor the most serious one. Originally the line was supposed to close on February 29!

It's the most embarrasing though, and garnered the most publicity from outside the transit fan world. Image and publicity is what the T is concerned about, and bad publicity shoots this delay above the other ones.

[BC Eagle]

I passed through North Station at 8 o'clock this morning. The Green Line was operating on both levels. When I was there, a trolley was departing the station heading inbound. There was also one sitting on the outbound tracks.

[Ron Newman]

I rode it around 7:45 this morning. Trains were running very slowly and somewhat backed up. My driver was seeing the new North Station for the first time, and probably many others were as well. T personnel said that the new storage yard under the FleetCenter was confusing.

No demolition has started yet on the Green Line elevated, stairways, elevators, or platforms.

[NealG]

Do they plan on upgrading Science Park and Lechemere to ADA compliance during the interim?

[Diverging Route]

I just rode through around 9:45am. Boy, those LED yellow signal aspects are bright! They did a nice job of doing the track cut-over; I couldn't tell where the splice was by either visual inspection or feel.

The inspector I chatted with said that all of the Type-8s are now on the C Line, until they are certified to run north of Government Center.

[Ron Newman]

Since Lechmere is a surface station I don't see what ADA upgrading would be needed. Science Park is another story, of course.

[Ron Newman]

When I took the last inbound train Friday evening, the person next to me, Sean Sullivan, shot this 12-minute movie from the back of the last car.

(Warning: this file is over 50 megabytes long! For that reason, I have not watched it myself and can't say anything about its contents.)